Sunday, December 25, 2005

Saturday (Christmas Eve) was above freezing, so I took the Assenmacher out for a quick run down the Monon. There were a handful of riders out, but mostly walkers and runners. "Merry Christmas" gets a much better response than "On your left". It was great to be out (first road ride for December), and I only had to portage once for about 10 feet where standing water had frozen over the trail.

Christmas Day: opening gifts and a mid-day nap (I was up very late finish photo collages for the boys), I got to try out a Christmas gift; Chris Carmichael's Criterium Training CD. It was a great 65 minute workout, with a mix of steady cadence intervals I really enjoyed. It was very interesting to listen to the commentary, because this is where my riding has been weakest; I can't stay with groups after I jump up with them; even though they are barely pulling away from me. I am looking for more info to use with the tapes.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

( The UCI would hold on a much bigger say, and has been very resistant to any such change, so the possible change is much more speculative. JSH 12/25/2005 )

If Shimano is going to go ahead with a 150mm Standard for Road and Mountain - 145 is going to start looking pretty silly on NEW tandems, regardless of the anecdotal support. And Shimano isn't stupid; if they have research showing good reason support and market a 150 standard (and offer free neutral support), they will quickly convince the industry to follow suit; they are the dog, not the tail. And the industry will, because that is how you sell next years model.

This is not intended to belittle the current state of the art, or anecdotal/empirical support of older standards (or start a flame war). But the art advances - it is not static; in fact when the art is not advancing, it is dying. All things being said, I am glad my state of the art `85 Sovereign is "obsolete" - Linda and I will look that much better when finally do upgrade! (Old Age, Treachery and New Technology trumps youth and skill.)

One of the advantages of being an almost old fart (AOF) -with 30 years of tandeming - is having seen this all before. During the 70's, single (and tandem) hub spacing went through all sorts of permutations and wheel reliability (yes, on singles!) problems as we pushed from Regina spaced 5-speeds to SunTour and Shimano 6-7s, and mixing up Campy, Japanese and other hub standards, combined with 170+ lbs Americans riding (and touring) on bikes intended for 140lb Euro racers. We didn't have the net, so people argued at bike shops, club meetings, rides and rallies. "I don't want a ### spaced tandem, cause I can't use my road wheels" . . . . "You don't need ###, you just need a good wheel builder." Same arguments, just not sitting at a keyboard in pajamas. Along the way hubs got wider (since we weren't riding 2-speed Cyclos any more) and the materials improved. (I think I have a couple of Record axles for 120mm spacing, if you are looking to really retro, but no more Regina 5 speeds.)

About Me

Riding road bicycles since 1972, and tandems since 1975. I worked my way though college in bike shops and running my own tandem specialty business. I returned to the bicycle industry full-time in 2009. I have never stopped riding, having been able to share it with my wife Linda and our sons Tyler and Justin.